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Why Week Days Are Named For the “gods” of Rome?
When the Roman Empire and its Universal Church of Rome took charge of naming days of the week, they used Roman gods. Their particular order related to the planets, also named for gods, associated with the heavenly bodies.
Where Did Names of Weekdays Come From?
Let’s start with the First Day of the Week - SUNDAY
Sunday is the “First god of the week”. From “Sol Invictus”, (Invincible Sun), from Constantine in 325 AD as Rome took over a sect of Christianity in Turkey. The Roman “Universal” Church is responsible for their god dies Solis (Sun Day). Not obviously connected to the Spanish word domingo, or the Italian word domenica.
Monday, or “Moon’s Day”, originally called dies Lunae in Latin, from lunes in Spanish and lundi in French. The English “Monday” gets its name from “moon,” as well as the Norse moon god Máni. The Roman version of a moon god was Diana, goddess of the hunt and childbirth.
Tuesday is the Roman war god Mars. Named Tiw, so, the Old English word for Tuesday: Tīwesdæg is devoted to Mars, referred to as dies Martis by the Romans. Hence martes in Spanish, mardi in French and martedi in Italian, and Zuis the Norse god of war.
Wednesday is Mercury’s day, but called “dies Mercurii” in Latin. In Spanish, it’s called miércoles, mercredi in French, and mercoledì in Italian. “Wednesday” sounds nothing like “Mercury,” but that’s because the Old English word Wōdnesdæg was named after Odin (or Woden in English), a Norse god. Odin and Mercury are similar as they both “shapeshifting gods” (literally “mercurial”), associated with the dead in some form (Mercury was a guide of souls to the afterlife), and associated with writing.
Thursday is Jupiter’s day, known as “dies Iovis” in Latin (Jueves in Spanish, jeudi in French, and so on). Jupiter and Thor were both gods of the lightning gods, probably why Thursday sounds so much like “Thor’s Day.” More likely, the Anglo-Saxon name for Thor was Thunor, giving rise to the Old English word Thunresdæg.
Friday is a weekly Venus holiday, known as dies Veneris in Latin. This becomes viernes in Spanish, vendredi in French and venerdì in Italian. The Norse goddess Frigg represents love and beauty — just like Venus. Hence the Old English word for Friday, which is Frīgedæg.
Saturday is, a more obviously, Saturn’s day (or dies Saturni). In Spanish, it’s called sábado; in French, samedi (which are actually named for the Sabbath). Saturday is the only English weekday name still clearly associated with a Roman god, when you consider Saturn is associated with longevity and permanence in astrology.
The logical order, according to the Romans, was from Sunday to Saturday. They started on the “Sun Day”, then “Mars”, “Mercury”, “Jupiter”, “Venus”, then “Saturn”.
Compared to the ascending Chaldean order of the planets (start with fastest orbiting to slowest, from our point on earth): Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. Days of the week follow this order every other day. This sequence repeats itself over two weeks.
Muslims have a real understanding of principles of "astronomy" (not "astrology").
